Seasons Change
by Nyhlus
Summary: Ten years after the end of Pahkitew Island, Topher returns to Canada after failing to make it in Hollywood. Trying to restart his life over, he invites Samey out for a drink. Can they connect after not speaking for so long, when they never really knew each other in the first place? -Nyhlus & BJ
1. Chapter 1

Seasons Change

"Tell me straight Topher," Samey said. "Why did you ask me out tonight?"

Topher smiled. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Please. How long has it been? Total Drama was over ten years ago. We haven't spoken once. Then, out of the blue, you call me up. There must be a reason. I find it hard to believe this was all a spontaneous spur of the moment," she said. She seemed amused by the situation, but her words were tied down with clear sincerity.

"What if it was? People have done crazier things."

"Sure. But we're not talking about other people. We're talking about you."

Samey and Topher were at a bar in the west side of Vancouver. They first tried a cocktail bar with a roof top patio a couple blocks down, but it was too busy. Samey knew this place. She used to frequent it during her Masters at UBC. It had a nice laid back feel to it. On Thursdays, a jazz trio played softly in the corner. She'd grab a pint while working on her readings.

Topher wore a blue blazer with a white dress shirt and tan slacks. He'd aged roughly. His skin looked leathery and blotched with time. His hair was combed to the side, hoping to hide his slowly receding hair line. He had a slight aroma around him, not an expensive cologne, but an obvious name brand. His cleft chin was hidden behind a well-trimmed orange beard. He looked rougher than the Topher of Total Drama, who glowed with enthusiasm and charm. Across from Samey, he tried to avoid her gaze, and knocked down his pints quickly.

Samey barely resembled her younger self. She'd dyed her hair black, and it hung loosely around her shoulders. She was thin. Her slender frame looked frail. Her collar bones jutted out in her low cut top. She wore it with a pleated grey skirt. On her left arm, she had a half sleeve tattoo of roses climbing over top of each other, their ragged thorny stems choking the flowers below them. Topher might have walked past her when they first met on the street, if it was not for her penetrating blue eyes. In the dim bar, it almost looked as if they glowed.

"Maybe I am a spontaneous person. How would you know? We barely know each other." Topher pointed out to her. He took a large sip from his pint.

Samey shook her head. "Alright. Fair enough stranger. Tell me about yourself. Then I'll judge whether you're spontaneous enough to have invited me out here on a whim. What have you been up to these past couple of years?"

"I've been living in Hollywood."

"Really?" Samey rubbed the edge of her wine glass. "I doubt that."

"Not the nice part. Hollywood can be kind of crummy. None of the stars actually live in the neighborhood. I had a small apartment a couple blocks off the boulevard, over top of a pizza joint. Rent was cheap, but that was about all that was good about it."

"Alright. Fair enough. What were you doing there? Trying to be a star?"

"Well," Topher looked regretful, staring over her shoulder. "That's not too far from the truth. It's not that I wanted to be a star. My goals were never that big. I'd have been okay being a regular actor. Or, maybe, working in front of the camera on a show. You know, a host type."

"Like Chris?"

"Like Chris," Topher acknowledged.

"Sounds like you haven't changed all that much since Total Drama. I'm impressed you kept going at it. Especially considering it got you kicked off the show." Samey let out a slight laugh, remembering the circumstances.

"Yeah. Real funny. At least I got kicked off trying to stay true to myself, instead of pretending to be someone I'm not," Topher shot back. Samey's smile faded. She straightened her back in her seat. "Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." He took an awkward sip of his beer, trying to avoid her gaze. "Anyways, that was why I was in LA. It seemed like the best place to get one of those regular gigs."

"So, how successful were you? Did you get any good parts?" Samey asked.

"No. Not quite. Unless you count a couple extra roles in the background. Even then, I was never on screen for more than a second. I spent most of my time there serving at a nice restaurant on Sunset. It was a good gig. I could make a couple hundred a night when I worked the bar. I was never poor there."

"Are you visiting now?"

"Here?"

"Yeah."

"No," Topher shook his head. "I moved up here a couple months ago. I'm here to stay."

"Why Vancouver?"

"My parents aren't too far. They're in Victoria. I did a couple semesters at SFU before I dropped out and headed south. So it seemed like a nice place to come back to."

"Any reason why you left California?"

"There's a couple." Topher ran his fingers through his hair. "The weather's beautiful there, but there's too much sun. It was not good for my skin. And I got laid off from work. I had no savings. I might have had a decent income, but I spent it all on blow and alcohol. My father was able to hook me up with a job at a marketing firm up here. I was in no position to say no. Plus," Topher took a deep breath, "whatever was left of the dream I had there, to become an actor or a host, it was not worth it anymore. I'd been to so many auditions. I'd responded to so many casting calls. Yet, I never got anything back. Not once. I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't keep going."

"So you gave up?"

"In a sense, yes," Topher admitted.

"That's awfully depressing," Samey joked with a playful edge. Topher raised his eyebrows at her. "Sorry. Not to diminish anything. I get that it can be tough."

"Can you?"

"To be honest?" Samey took a sip of her wine. Her lipstick left a slight mark on the glass. "Not really. I've never had a dream I really cared about. Not like that at least. I think I've been too focused on trying not to be Amy. That's my dream."

"And how is that going?"

"Well enough. She's in Toronto now. It's much easier to differentiate yourself when you're a couple thousand kilometres away."

"What's she up to?"

"She's a lawyer. She just finished articling at this big Bay Street law firm. She's married too. Her husband's the vice president of this big corporation that makes most of the world's industrial water filters."

"Impressive," Topher commented.

"In a sense, yes," Samey relented. "Not that I envy them for a second. Both of their lives are their jobs. They work all day and all night. I doubt they ever see each other for more than a couple hours at a time. You really have to dedicate yourself completely in a situation like that. There's no way I could do it."

"What are you up to?"

"I'm working for the City of Vancouver Archives, as an archivist."

"Archivist?"

"Well, my proper title is Reproductions Specialist Technician. But it's hard enough for people to decipher what I mean when I just say archivist."

"An archive? What made you want to do that?"

"Well, it's a nice job. There's not too much pressure. I don't have a boss breathing down my neck all the time. My work mostly consists of assisting researchers to find records and making copies for them. I find it kind of interesting learning what others are researching. Also, I had pretty good grades in undergrad, but I didn't really feel like going into academia. A masters in archives sounded like more fun."

"Cool,"

"What's the marketing business like?"

"It's okay, I guess. It's mostly meetings and pitches. It can feel like we're not getting anywhere, but I like it enough." Topher scratched his beard. "I like that it is partially connected to the entertainment business. It might not quite be in the sense I was intending, but I take some solace in that. I'm still new. Even after six months, I feel like I'm still learning the ropes. Not that I'm complaining. It pays well enough for me to live in the city, which is all I can ask."

"Have you tried getting any work here? As an actor or host?" Samey asked.

Topher shook his head. "No way. That little stunt I pulled on Total Drama, while it did put my face out into the world, burned one too many bridges. There's no way I'll find any work in the industry up here in Canada."

"Chris has that much of a sway?"

"You'd be surprised."

"But that was over ten years ago."

"One of the first things you learn in the entertainment industry is people don't forget, nor do they forgive. Especially when someone tries to steal your livelihood. The first thing people are going to find when they look up my name is that whole fiasco. That door's shut to me."

"You have yourself to blame for that. It's not the only bridge you burned on Total Drama. Just so you know, I haven't forgotten how you treated me like shit on that show," Samey said pointedly.

"Hey I didn't treat you any worse than everyone else did." Topher took a large sip of his beer, glancing at Samey who did not seem pleased by his answer. "Fine. That's no excuse. I guess I was kind of a dick. But you know, I was young and stupid. Pretty sure we already established that by me single handily destroying my career this side of the border."

"It's alright. You don't have to make excuses. I had my own issues on that show too. I had actually done pretty well forgetting completely about it over the last few years, until you called."

"You mean you're not still in contact with anyone?"

"Not really. I used to be really close with Jasmine, but it's been a while since we last talked."

"Do you know what she's up to now?"

"She's actually not the far. She moved to the States to be with Shawn. He got a gig working on a zombie videogame series for one of the game developers down in Seattle. I guess you could say it was a dream job for him, he's apparently been slugging away in that industry hoping to work on that kind of a project. You know, Zombies."

"Are they still together?" Topher asked, surprised.

"Yep," Samey nodded. "At least they were when I last spoke to them, which was about a year ago now. They've been on and off since the end of the show. It's been tough with Jasmine living in Australia. After being separated for a while, Jasmine came over here for university to be with him. Near the end of her undergrad, she and Shawn got into a wicked fight, and she moved back to Australia. I thought they were done then, but Shawn actually decided to drop everything and follow her. I guess when Shawn got the job, and they needed to move back, Jasmine felt obligated to do the same."

"I can't imagine dating someone from Total Drama for so long. My relationships never last more than a few months." Topher admitted.

"Ten years is a long time." Samey agreed. "You've never been in a relationship that has lasted more than just a few months?" Samey asked with piqued interest.

Topher shrugged. "Yeah, but if you are looking for long term relationships, Hollywood is not the place to be. Everyone you meet is trying to get into the entertainment business. Everything is so competitive it is really hard to form any lasting bonds romantic or otherwise. I don't know, maybe now that I'm here in Vancouver things might be different."

"That seems kind of cheap. It sounds like you're blaming your surroundings. Not willing to take any personal responsibility?"

"Alright. Some of the relationships were a bit more complicated than that. And of course I'll take some of the blame for their failure. I mean, who isn't partially responsible for their relationships coming to an end? That doesn't mean I was a bad boyfriend. We just weren't looking for love."

"Sure," Samey spoke, unconvinced. "So, let's go back a bit. Why did you ask me out tonight? You've failed to convince me that you're a spontaneous person. There must be a reason why you asked me out now, here, after all this time." She tepidly traced her finger around the rim of her wine glass.

"What are you looking for? What do you want me to say?" Topher asked her. His tone defensive.

"I don't know. Maybe that this is not an innocent get together. That the reason you're here is to get in my pants. And please don't try to deny it. Guys have tried worse," Samey accused him. A sly confident smile crept over her lips.

"If you think I'm here to get in your pants, then why did you come?" Topher tried to throw back at her.

"Amusement? I'm not sure to be honest. It sounded like more fun than staying at home watching TV. Not that I'm going to fuck you," Samey said straight.

"Look. I did not invite you here just to sleep with you. Frankly, I'm a little insulted by the suggestion. If I wanted to get laid, why would I invite out someone I haven't seen for ten years, who has more than enough reason to dislike me? There must be easier people to go on dates with."

"I'm not denying that. To be honest, it's part of the conundrum. Why call me?"

"You want to know?"

"I do want to know," Samey said.

"Fine," Topher relinquished. "I wanted to hang out with someone who wasn't from my job. But I don't know anyone else in the city."

"What about the people you went to SFU with?"

"Most of them are gone. Not that I suspect any of them would want to see me anyways. It's not just at Total Drama that I burned a couple bridges because of my dream. I burned bridges with everyone I knew when I left to go south. I was certain I would never come back here. I would never need to see them again. But I was wrong, and now I'm here with my tail between my legs with no one who cares. That's why I invited you out. I hoped enough time passed that we could get along. I guess I was wrong." Topher stood up from his seat.

"Stop. Please. Sit down." Samey said. She turned to look if anyone else in the bar noticed, a little embarrassed by the scene. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry. Okay?"

Topher let out a sigh. He retook his seat. "It's fine. I would have assumed the same thing, if I was in your shoes."

"So, where do you want to go from here?"

"What do you mean?"

"This," Samey waved her hand wildly. "What do you want to do?"

Topher smiled. "I want to order another beer." He tapped his nearly empty glass.

Samey smiled back at him. She finished the rest of her wine. "Sounds like a plan to me."

…

Topher reached into his back pocket, and took a pack of cigarettes. "You want one?" he offered Samey. She shook her head. He shrugged, placing one in his mouth. He lit the tip with his lighter, and inhaled.

"You know those are bad for you, right?" Samey commented off hand. She stood by the edge of the curb, trying to wave down a passing taxi. The early morning street was covered in small pockets of people heading home from the bar. A cold fall wind blew along the road.

"Sure," Topher acknowledged, rubbing the arm of his blazer for warmth. "Let me put it to you like this: I'm trading one addiction for another, and this one is a lot healthier." He took another drag. "You doing alright? I'm freezing."

"I'm okay. I'm used to it. I bet this must be the toughest part of moving up north. Sure you're not missing the LA sun yet?"

Topher let out a slight smile. "Not yet. Ask me again during winter, and I'm sure my opinion will change."

"Sure thing. Oh!" A taxi stopped in front of Samey. She reached forward, and opened one of the back doors. She turned to look back at Topher. "You okay to get home?"

Topher nodded. "Yeah. I'm only a couple blocks from here. I can walk it no problem."

"Cool." Samey sat down in the cab. "Topher?"

"Yeah?"

"I had fun tonight."

"Me too."

And with that, she closed the door to the cab, and it drove off.

Topher stood there, cold, bogarting his cigarette, with his hands in his pockets, for a moment watching her go, smiling slightly on the Vancouver street.

_..._

_Afterword:_

_This is a bit of a quieter story. If you liked it, feel free to check out our other stories._

_Please leave a review._

_Till Next Time - Nyhlus and BJ_


	2. Chapter 2

Topher took a step out of the office building. He rubbed his hands together for warmth, before reaching into his wool coat's pocket to grab a cigarette. It was his first autumn since being back. He had watched the season change with regretful eyes. Desperately, he wanted to latch onto the last remaining warmth of the summer. A part of him was not ready to be back; there was a lingering piece of his soul that clung to the distant LA sun.

He leaned against a light post as he lit the tip of a cigarette. He inhaled slowly, closing his eyes, letting the breath calm him. He loosened his tie, and closed his grey wool jacket over his body for more warmth. The crowded street pushed him off the light post, and he stumbled up against the wall of the building. He rustled his hand through his neatly parted hair, watching as people passed by him, when he recognized a face. "Hey! Samey!" He called out reaching forward and touching her arm.

Samey jumped at his touch. She wore large stereo headphones with a red leather jacket. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail. She pulled off her headphones to look at him. "Topher! Shit. What are you doing here?" She stepped next to him against the wall, out of the rush of the crowd.

"I just finished giving a presentation to a client in this building here. I came out to have a smoke." Topher spoke.

"Cool." Samey replied, a little awkward.

"What are you doing in this part of town?" Topher asked.

"Oh, I live in this neighborhood. I was just going to go pick up some things at the store."

"Ah, I don't want to keep you or anything."

"No, no it's okay. I'm not grabbing anything urgent."

"Well, if that is the case, do you want to go grab some coffee?" Topher asked.

"Like right now?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you working?"

"Well," Topher commented. He looked up at the tall building towering over them. "My presentation's done. That's all I came here to do. They're not expecting me at the office anytime soon. Grabbing a coffee sounds like a nice break, considering how hard I've worked on it for the last couple weeks. I'd really appreciate it if you join me."

"Alright. Sure. Yeah," Samey said. She looked to her right, and then to her left. "There's a really cute place just down the block. Let's go there."

"Great." Topher spoke with a grin. Samey smiled back at him.

They walked down the street together to the corner. There was a small hole in the wall coffee shop called Tender Buttons. It had glossy windows covered in posters for acoustic shows. Samey opened the door for Topher, and they entered together. Samey walked directly up to the counter, hoping to order herself a coffee. Topher draped his coat on the back of a chair next to the window, and set his leather bag on the ground, before moving to grab a drink for himself.

Samey sat down at the table; her hands firmly grasped a large ceramic mug. She stared out onto the street through the window as she waited for Topher to join her. It took a few seconds for Topher to take his place. He set down his cup, and dipped a tea bag into it. Samey watched him with mild amusement.

"I thought you were inviting me out to coffee."

"Huh?" Topher asked, looking up at her. He did not get her point.

"That doesn't look like coffee." Samey said.

"I'm been off of coffee since moving up here. I mostly just drink green tea now. I felt I needed to cleanse my body of all that caffeine I was injecting into it. I needed a break. I guess it's more of an LA thing to go on a cleanse, isn't it? What are you drinking?"

"A triple espresso Americano." Samey said with a grin. She took a sip.

"Do you really think you need all that energy?"

"I need all the energy I can get. My job is so filled with mundane tasks, it's the only way I'm able to not pass out by the end of every shift."

"But you're not working today are you?"

Samey shrugged. "No. I guess I like the taste too." They shared an awkward silence. Topher blew on his tea to cool it down. Samey turned to stare out the window at the people walking by. "Are you feeling any more settled in Vancouver?"

Topher nodded. "Yeah, though I'm exploring the city a little less. The cold air is making me hide in my apartment more."

"I actually really like the cool air of fall. The briskness makes me feel more on my toes, if that makes any sense. And I like that I can escape it too, either hide in a little place like this and warm my hands with some coffee, or wrap myself in blankets when I get home. I like it way more than say extreme cold or heat. My family's from Winnipeg. We've got the worse of both worlds there."

"Really? You're from Winnipeg. I didn't know that." Topher admitted.

"It's not exactly a place you brag about being from. Unless you are complaining about it. Lots to complain about."

"So I guess you went west and your sister went east then."

"I guess."

"Do you still keep in contact with her? Has your relationship gotten any better?"

"It has, but it's taken a while. Our relationship hit the lowest point after the incident from the show. When we arrived home we weren't even on speaking terms. We could barely stand to be in the same building together. But after we left to go to University things got better. I think it helped that we lived thousands of kilometres away from each other."

"I never would have thought about it, but I can see how the show would have ruined that relationship, no matter how bad it was going in."

"Funny thing is, I think that the show actually saved our relationship in the long run. Before the show, it was Amy's mission to follow me my whole life and make sure everyone I ever met knew she was better than me. But, after the show, when I showed I was capable of fighting back, I think it scared her a little. She realized she did not have complete and total control over me. Whatever it was, it was enough for her to distance herself enough for me to have my own life. In that way I'm grateful for the show. It's probably the only thing I'm grateful of from it."

"Well, you met Jasmine in it right? It sounded like last time we spoke, you've stayed decent friends with her." Topher said.

"That's true. Yeah. I guess I can be grateful for meeting her there too. What about you? Did you keep in contact with anyone after the show?"

"Nope." Topher declared sipping his tea, then he shook his head. "Wait, no. I receive a Christmas card from Ella every year."

"Me too! I really liked the one from last year with that front cover collage of kitten pictures."

Topher smiled knowingly. "I liked that one too. She's really good at making those. I swear, her photoshop skills are better than the graphic design guys at my marketing firm, and they're professionals. I would kill to have someone that good to work with."

"Well, Ella was always full of surprises. Didn't she say in her card that she performed in a couple off Broadway shows last year? That's so cool, right?" Samey asked. She could see a tinge of regret in Topher's face, as he was brought back to his own failures at acting. "Oops. I'm sorry," she tried to apologize.

Topher waved it away. "Don't be." He scratched his beard, trying to compose himself a little. "You'd think that I'd be jealous about her success, but, to be truly honest, I'm just so happy that one of us has been able to move forward in the industry. I know we never had much comradery on the show, but it warms my heart to think of Chris feeling even the slightest bit of jealousy about one of us. I like to picture him on Christmas morning, reading the card, and having it put a slight damper on his day."

"That does not sound healthy," Samey said straight. "How do you even know that Chris would feel jealousy? You're the only one who had a feud with him."

"It's a bit of a fantasy, I'll admit." Topher took a sip of his tea. "Don't forget though, Chris kicked her off for singing. Every accomplishment she makes singing, I feel is a slight to him."

"Do you still care so much about Chris?"

Topher shrugged his shoulders. "I've never stopped caring about Chris, if that's what you mean. It's not like I spend every day consumed about it. It's just that whenever I think back to the show, and the other contestants, those feelings come back. What about the other contestants? Do you know where any of them are?"

"Let me think," Samey paused. She tapped her right cheek in contemplation. "Shawn emails with Dave. Last I heard, he's working on a philosophy phd at the University of Alberta. Jasmine mentioned that Sky studied in the States to play varsity soccer. I haven't heard anything about her since. That's all I can remember off the top of my head. I had a couple of them on facebook for a bit, but I deleted it after coming out here. I did not want to be connected much with my past life."

"Fair enough. I tried to separate myself as much as possible from it. For a couple of years, it felt the show was this wicked omen of failure looming around the back of my head. Thankfully, no one recognized me in LA. The show was not quite as popular south of the border. One of the few times I've been glad to be less famous."

"You ever think about going back?"

"Back where?"

"To the island." Samey reached into her purse, and pulled out a brochure. She handed it to Topher. "I found this a week or so ago. It was sitting on a rack at my grocery store. After our last conversation, I felt like I needed to grab it. I'd never thought to look it up."

The brochure was titled _Pahkitew Island Park_. The front cover had a full picture of the island, looking nearly identical to the way it did back on the show. Below the picture, in big blue writing was BCParks. Topher opened it up. One side of the brochure was covered in a full map of the island, pointing out hiking trails, camp grounds, picnic areas, and an information station. The other side was filled of blurbs outlining the costs of entry and a description of the trails. On the back, there was an advertisement for boat tours in the area, and a small paragraph that read: _Pahkitew Island was the setting for the hit show Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. Visit a number of the original locales from the show including the elimination area, the Treehouse and the Cave. _

"Is this for real?" Topher asked, looking up at Samey.

Samey nodded. "Looks like it. I did a bit of research on it myself. Apparently after the show ended, TeleReal defaulted on the land, and it went to the province. It's been a park for a number of years. I never thought to look up anything about the island before. It's not that far from here. We could probably drive up there in a day."

Topher rubbed his beard. "It's tempting. I thought that you mentioned trying to forget all about the show."

"I've tried to, sure." She took a sip of her Americano. "When you showed up though, I sort of realized something. I'm never going to completely forget about it. It played an important role in my life, that even if I try to deny it, it is a part of who I am. Maybe trying to forget about it is not the healthiest of attitudes. It might be time to try to face it head strong. You know, face that part of me I've been ignoring."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Well, I was hoping you'd come with me. There's no one else in the city who would understand what visiting that place means better than you. At least, it would feel wrong not to offer the chance to come along. I'm not sure if you're ready to face it yet, but it might do you some good. Especially when you consider why you're back here in the first place."

Topher frowned. "You don't have to remind me."

"Look. The offer's open to you. You don't need to come."

"Would you like me to come?"

"Yes," Samey said simply.

Topher shook his head. "It'd be weird, right? It'd be weird to be there again. God, it's been over ten years. I'm not sure I'd even recognize the place."

"Even more reason to go see it. Hopefully it'll look a little less intimidating now that we're adults."

"Hopefully," Topher spoke. He took a deep breath. "Alright. I'll go with you."

"Great," Samey smiled, taking another sip. "It's a date."

…

_Afterword:_

_Here's chapter 2. We're trying to move slowly and organically with it._

_Please leave a review._

_Till Next Time - Nyhlus and BJ_


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